my last, last i tell you, attempted transaction with metropolis

[ciorac]

in agreement with everything but the 'evil empire' blast--excellent post. [see, no personal shot].

 

I'm fairly certain that the Evil Empire notation was made tongue firmly in cheek since if Heritage was an Evil Empire as mentioned many times on here, why would they continue to offer the extensive auctions archives they do. Tim was in fact mocking those that think Heritage is Evil. This makes you guys 100% in agreement

 

Heritage isn't evil. They just don't care about the marketplace. They'll dump 30 copies of a previously rare book on the marketplace. Torques up dealers plans because they paid top dollar to acquire previously mentioned rare book and now it's worth much less. They disregard achieving top dollar for books sometimes, because all they really care about is their commission. Other times, they'll buy books in their own auctions and then you'll see them relisted at a higher grade in the next auction or just relisted even though it just sold in the previous auction.

 

Nicely put Brent! I completely agree that their fire hose approach to bringing books to market hurts everyone in the long run. Including themselves.

[Silver Surfer]

As a reminder, the Detroit Trolley books are checked by Susan C., and come with a certificate that they are unrestored

 

STEVE

 

I think Susan is great but I did see one book where slight color touch was noted by CGC after Susan had either missed it or didn't feel like there was CT present (and I'm not talking about the MMC#5). Can't recall which DT book it was but will look at Marnin's site to see if I can figure it out.

 

The Marvel Mystery #5 is the only DT book that has had any questions raised about it to the best of my knowledge.

 

You might be right but maybe I saw the scan of the MMC#5 slabbed somewhere before it was relisted on Marnin's site. I know I saw it well before it was listed in the last go around? Did a board member buy the book the first time?

[qualitycomix]

As a reminder, the Detroit Trolley books are checked by Susan C., and come with a certificate that they are unrestored

 

STEVE

 

I think Susan is great but I did see one book where slight color touch was noted by CGC after Susan had either missed it or didn't feel like there was CT present (and I'm not talking about the MMC#5). Can't recall which DT book it was but will look at Marnin's site to see if I can figure it out.

 

The Marvel Mystery #5 is the only DT book that has had any questions raised about it to the best of my knowledge.

 

You might be right but maybe I saw the scan of the MMC#5 slabbed somewhere before it was relisted on Marnin's site. I know I saw it well before it was listed in the last go around? Did a board member buy the book the first time?

 

Marnin had consigned it to me about 1.5 years ago.

I sold it on ebay for him to a non-board member.

He slabbed it. Came back with slight CT blue label.

We deslabbed it and Marnin sent it back to Susan and Tracey Heft for reevaluation.

They determined that it had a foreign substance on the book that was not CT.

Marnin resold it on his site with all info present.

[Silver Surfer]

As a reminder, the Detroit Trolley books are checked by Susan C., and come with a certificate that they are unrestored

 

STEVE

 

I think Susan is great but I did see one book where slight color touch was noted by CGC after Susan had either missed it or didn't feel like there was CT present (and I'm not talking about the MMC#5). Can't recall which DT book it was but will look at Marnin's site to see if I can figure it out.

 

The Marvel Mystery #5 is the only DT book that has had any questions raised about it to the best of my knowledge.

 

You might be right but maybe I saw the scan of the MMC#5 slabbed somewhere before it was relisted on Marnin's site. I know I saw it well before it was listed in the last go around? Did a board member buy the book the first time?

 

Marnin had consigned it to me about 1.5 years ago.

I sold it on ebay for him to a non-board member.

He slabbed it. Came back with slight CT blue label.

We deslabbed it, sent back to Susan and Tracey Heft for reevaluation.

They determined no CT. We resold on Marnin's site with all info present.

 

Okay probably explains why I thought it was another book. I am totally happy with the book as it is one of the jewels in my collection. I of course saw the detailed listing which is why I think Marnin is one of the best in the industry, he went above and beyond and then some to investigate/explain the CT issue. Just wanted to point out that perhaps some human error/judgement can come into play every now and then.

[qualitycomix]

Okay probably explains why I thought it was another book. I am totally happy with the book as it is one of the jewels in my collection. I of course saw the detailed listing which is why I think Marnin is one of the best in the industry, he went above and beyond and then some to investigate/explain the CT issue. Just wanted to point out that perhaps some human error/judgement can come into play every now and then.

 

I agree completely. Your MM #5 -

[qualitycomix]

Nicely put Brent! I completely agree that their fire hose approach to bringing books to market hurts everyone in the long run. Including themselves.

 

Yup, I don't know why auction houses (and dealers) put short term gains ahead of the long term health of the marketplace. After all, book values are completely perception based.

 

DISCLAIMER - The following is a rumor only.

 

I heard thru the grapevine that Heritage may be getting out of comics in the next few years. Is there any truth to that? Has anyone else heard the same?

[showcase4]

 

DISCLAIMER - The following is a rumor only.

 

I heard thru the grapevine that Heritage may be getting out of comics in the next few years. Is there any truth to that? Has anyone else heard the same?

 

IF this is true, why would they do that?

They appear to be extremely successful with this piece of the collectibles universe.

Steve

[qualitycomix]

 

DISCLAIMER - The following is a rumor only.

 

I heard thru the grapevine that Heritage may be getting out of comics in the next few years. Is there any truth to that? Has anyone else heard the same?

 

IF this is true, why would they do that?

They appear to be extremely successful with this piece of the collectibles universe.

Steve

 

Comics are small potatoes to them. Maybe the margins aren't as good and there's more competition here.

[pennynike1]

I heard thru the grapevine that Heritage may be getting out of comics in the next few years. Is there any truth to that? Has anyone else heard the same?

 

I sincerely hope this is not the case. They are my primary source for obtaining Golden Age books. I love the large scans they display for the books they are auctioning. Further, their Archives is a great source of information, both as to the price of previous sales, along with what is out there in the market waiting to be claimed in the event of a potential seller's emergency.

[sacentaur]

While I don't think the situation today is perfect by any stretch of the imagination, particularly in terms of undisclosed pressing (where Lou seems to take a much harder line than most of his Old School brethren), I think it's SO much better than the old days.

 

Undisclosed trimming (along with other forms of restoration such as color touch and tear seals), which I think most collectors would agree is much worse than undisclosed pressing, still takes place, but not nearly as often as it did back then.

 

Many of the top dealers today, who may have gotten where they are today through tactics ranging from aggressive to unsavory, were there in the old days too. I don't think they get away with nearly as much as they used to. Crack-out-and-resub is a new game, of course, but is that any different from dealers in the old days who would consistently give books one grade when buying and give it a different grade when selling?

 

But first and foremost, the vastly greater information available through the internet, communal information sites such as these boards, and publicly available scans (here, on people's hard drives, and in the archives provided by the Evil Empire aka Heritage), has created much more transparency for the individual collector than existed in the past, which has helped to significantly level the playing field. As Steve says, however, just because a collector is armed with information doesn't mean that he'll take advantage of it. But at least it's there to be used if someone chooses to do so.

 

Nice post, Tim.

 

With lou, I was specifically referring to the fact that we were lucky to get some nice (pedigree/high grade books) in the old days. While lou is modest and claims that he has a small collection, I know he has some pretty amazing books!

 

Other times I wasn't so lucky - for example, 2/3 of the books I bought from Metropolis and Dave Anderson over the years ended up having undisclosed restoration (mostly color touch and tear seals, as you said) . I have since purged my collection of most of those books.

 

As buyers get more information, sellers adapt too - and those few Greed Merchants out there have learned to ply their trade in a more insidious way.

 

STEVE

[sborock]

"Marnin had consigned it to me about 1.5 years ago.

 

I sold it on ebay for him to a non-board member.

 

He slabbed it. Came back with slight CT blue label.

 

We deslabbed it, sent back to Susan and Tracey Heft for reevaluation.

 

They determined no CT. We resold on Marnin's site with all info present. "

 

 

 

Brent-

 

As for Tracey and Susan determining that was not CT, if I remember correctly from my conversation(s) with you, you told me that they DID NOT know what it was, but did not call it CT. All I know is that there is red (the only color that would match) foreign substance that just so happens to be on the corner of the MM5 where it should be white because of wear, as well as some on the 1st 2 pages in that same position. Red ink was not put on those pages in the same exact position when the MM5 was printed. I will be more than happy to post the scan, but since it is SS's book, I would not post the scan without his consent.

 

 

CGC STANDS BY THE FACT THAT THERE IS VERY MINOR AMATUER COLOR TOUCH ON THAT BOOK. IF WE CAN"T PROVE IT, WE DON"T PUT IT ON THE LABEL.

[Silver Surfer]

DISCLAIMER - The following is a rumor only.

 

I heard thru the grapevine that Heritage may be getting out of comics in the next few years. Is there any truth to that? Has anyone else heard the same?

 

I hope not because they have some pretty amazing books come on line in the last few years. Somehow I doubt this because of Halpern's connection/financial in CGC. They recently hiked their commissions and business has been pretty healthy so that would be odd to see them bow out. Perhaps they will focus on more quality books with just a handful of signature auctions and get away from the low grade raw stuff that they try and sell each month?

[Ogami]

I find it noteworthy that

 

A) Metropolis has not responded to Bedrock's last post about his two apparently undisclosed restored books,

 

and

 

B) the inference I see that Richard has already mentioned this to Metropolis, not to his satisfaction.

 

 

As to this thread- Billy has every right to voice his frustrations about Metropolis' policies and pricing structure.

 

Free Market meet Free Press. Hallo, Guvenor!

[G.A.tor]

"Marnin had consigned it to me about 1.5 years ago.

 

I sold it on ebay for him to a non-board member.

 

He slabbed it. Came back with slight CT blue label.

 

We deslabbed it, sent back to Susan and Tracey Heft for reevaluation.

 

They determined no CT. We resold on Marnin's site with all info present. "

 

 

 

Brent-

 

As for Tracey and Susan determining that was not CT, if I remember correctly from my conversation(s) with you, you told me that they DID NOT know what it was, but did not call it CT. All I know is that there is red (the only color that would match) foreign substance that just so happens to be on the corner of the MM5 where it should be white because of wear, as well as some on the 1st 2 pages in that same position. Red ink was not put on those pages in the same exact position when the MM5 was printed. I will be more than happy to post the scan, but since it is SS's book, I would not post the scan without his consent.

 

 

CGC STANDS BY THE FACT THAT THERE IS VERY MINOR AMATUER COLOR TOUCH ON THAT BOOK. IF WE CAN"T PROVE IT, WE DON"T PUT IT ON THE LABEL.

hello all...

Brent showed me this book, pre SS purchasing...and, we both agreed that there is "something" there....I guess the "stigma" of color touch is that folks associate that with the notation that they are intentionally using c/t to restore...I have a blue labeled comic (light blue cover) that someone hit with a black felt tip pen (I would have to say accidentally, as black serves no restorative purpose where the mark is)...cgc blue labeled it with note of "slight" color touch...do I call that restoration, heavens no...that would be silly....but it is there, you can see it (same with that "whatever" in the upper corner of the MMC 5)...would that stop me from purchasing as an unrestored vgish book?...again, heck no, it is a beaut!

so, yes, there is some minute colored something in the upper right corner and on the first 2? pages, but I think what folks are misconstruing is the contention that it was "color touched" for restoring, versus , say someone spilling prune juice or something...

did I overstep my bounds here?

gator

[metropoliscomics]

I find it noteworthy that

 

A) Metropolis has not responded to Bedrock's last post about his two apparently undisclosed restored books,

 

and

 

B) the inference I see that Richard has already mentioned this to Metropolis, not to his satisfaction.

 

 

As to this thread- Billy has every right to voice his frustrations about Metropolis' policies and pricing structure.

 

Free Market meet Free Press. Hallo, Guvenor!

 

Vincent and Stephen have been in Vegas since Friday. They will respond when they get back in the office on Wednesday.

[G.A.tor]

I find it noteworthy that

 

A) Metropolis has not responded to Bedrock's last post about his two apparently undisclosed restored books,

 

and

 

B) the inference I see that Richard has already mentioned this to Metropolis, not to his satisfaction.

 

 

As to this thread- Billy has every right to voice his frustrations about Metropolis' policies and pricing structure.

 

Free Market meet Free Press. Hallo, Guvenor!

 

Vincent and Stephen have been in Vegas since Friday. They will respond when they get back in the office on Wednesday.

I did get one of those automated emails that they were out of the office from june 15-20...

gator

[The Black Hand ®]

I should mention that wherever I travel, I'm able to check these boards if I'm so inclined.Does Vegas have internet?

[Shield]

I should mention that wherever I travel, I'm able to check these boards if I'm so inclined.Does Vegas have internet?

 

If I were in Vegas the last thing on my mind would be these boards. The first two? Hookers and the Blackjack table!

[batman_fan]

I find it noteworthy that

 

A) Metropolis has not responded to Bedrock's last post about his two apparently undisclosed restored books,

 

and

 

B) the inference I see that Richard has already mentioned this to Metropolis, not to his satisfaction.

 

 

As to this thread- Billy has every right to voice his frustrations about Metropolis' policies and pricing structure.

 

Free Market meet Free Press. Hallo, Guvenor!

 

Vincent and Stephen have been in Vegas since Friday. They will respond when they get back in the office on Wednesday.

 

Hum Vincent AND Steve in Vegas at the same time, and isn't Vegas a big place to run off to and get married?

[FlyingDonut]

I should mention that wherever I travel, I'm able to check these boards if I'm so inclined.Does Vegas have internet?

 

If I were in Vegas the last thing on my mind would be these boards. The first two? Hookers and the Blackjack table!

 

I'd have to concur. Not hookers and blackjack, but the last thing on my mind would be these boards. 4-8 hold 'em and sports wagering would be ahead of these boards. Just a little.